Why hello there! Okay, I just couldn't resist...I should be working on my Teen Titans fic, but this has been in my head lately...^^" Sorry if this conflicts with the Manga plot, never read, hope to soon, just pretend it's an alternate universe or something;P Warning...character may be an EXTREMELY exaggerated version of yours truly...that is to say...she acts like me. That, and like her general features, are probably where it ends...let's just go with I WISH I were her. Oh, and in case you don't get this part (I wouldn't) pretend they're speaking Japanese this whole time. ANYWAY...heeeere we go!

Ella Flynn wiped her brow as she left her first class of Ouran Academy. Transferring as a second year student from America had NOT been easy, but what was even harder was adjusting. However, she'd managed her first class (math, nonetheless, which was difficult for her in any language), so she figured she was getting along alright so far.

"Now," she thought to herself out loud "Which way is the room my conversation class is in…"

"Oh!" she heard a sugarcoated voice say from behind her. She turned to see two girls looking at her. "You're looking for the room Japanese Conversation for Transfer Students is in?"

Ella nodded.

"You're that honors girl from America, right?" asked the other girl. Ella nodded again, and the two girls looked at each other, though what the look meant she had no idea.

"It's down the hall and to the left." The first girl said, pointing and smiling.

Ella was about to thank her and be on her way when a cool, smooth voice sounded from behind her. "Really?" it said sarcastically. "I wasn't aware the Japanese conversation class had been moved to the Janitor's office." Ella turned yet again and saw a very tall, handsome boy. He had glasses shading a pair of dark, mysterious eyes, and an air of regal aloofness about him. He wore a small smirk as he ran his hand absentmindedly through his dark hair.

"Kyoya!" the first girl squeaked. "We, um—that is, I, umm…" both girls blushed guiltily as she tried to stutter out an apology.

The boy whom Ella understood to be named Kyoya held up a hand to stop her awkward reply. "No need, just be on your way, ladies. No sense in embarrassing yourselves any further."

With no further word, the two girls skittered away hurriedly, mumbling to each other with red faces.

"Uhh," Ella began, gathering herself. "Thanks. That was…awfully nice of you."

"Nice," he chuckled. "I suppose that is one way to look at it." He saw her confused look and laughed at himself. "I'll admit, that was a little bit of overkill. That first girl's father's company used to cooperate with my father's, so I always had to act cordially to her, though I never did really approve of her behavior. She's threatened by anybody she thinks might be more intelligent than she is, or who might take attention from her in any other manner. Therefore she tends to act, for lack of a better word, rather bitchily towards such people. Hence her behavior towards you, an honors student here on scholarship. (That's not something that happens often, you know.) However, her father's company just recently cut off ties to mine rather unexpectedly, so it's now almost expected of me to be cold and standoffish."

Ella was still trying to process this when he laughed again. "Your confused expression tells me your family members are not, in fact, part of the business world. Am I correct?"

"I…uhh…my dad's a technology…consultant? Is that the word? My Japanese is still a little limited…" at Kyoya's nod, she continued. "…My mom's a teacher…or…was…before we moved here…uhh…?" her whole sentence seemed like a question. Kyoya couldn't help but laugh at her innocence.

"No, then. If you don't mind my asking, what did end up moving you here all the way from the United States?"

Though she retained her confused expression, an undertone of nervousness seemed to appear in the blond girl's delicate, rosy-cheeked face. "It's…well…it's complicated." She said, scratching the back of her neck.

Kyoya's eyes narrowed the smallest bit at her cryptic response, but he decided to let it go for now. Then, for what seemed like the millionth time since he had met her, he laughed at himself. "I'm sorry, I haven't formally introduced myself." He held out his hand to her. "Kyoya Ootori. My father runs a series of hospitals throughout Japan."

Ella smiled as she shook his hand. "My name's Ella Flynn, I grew up in Philadelphia. Or…near it. In the suburbs."

Kyoya chuckled at her slightly stumbly introduction, though he was unsure why. "Well, it's been very nice meeting you, Miss Flynn. I don't, however, want to be the reason you're late to one of your first classes. Your conversation class is down the hall and to the right." He looked at his watch. "I'd take you myself, but my next class is in another building."

"Oh, that's okay, thank you!" Ella smiled, turning to go. "Maybe I'll see you around."

He smiled back, unusually warmly for him. "Goodbye for now." He said in perfect English, right before turning and walking away without a backwards glance.

Ella stood smiling for a moment before continuing in the direction he had pointed out to her. He was awfully intriguing, in a mysterious way. Kind of like a puzzle she wanted to figure out. And, she had to admit, he was quite charming. And handsome. She had a hard time brushing the encounter out of her mind for the first few minutes of her next class, but she eventually managed, telling herself if she wanted to have more like it she had to improve her conversation skills.

Kyoya, surprisingly, also had a hard time getting the encounter out of his head. The girl was on his mind the entire time he was making his way to his business calculus class, and for the first few minutes he was sitting there as well. What exactly had her cryptic response meant? The words themselves were innocent enough, but her body language had implied that she was hiding something. What did she have to hide from him, a man she had just met? And, to get to the crux of the matter, why WAS she here in the first place? He made it his business to know such things, and not only did it annoy him that he didn't, it fascinated him that it hadn't been easy to find out. He made up his mind that he was going to figure out this riddle called Ella Flynn.

Just then, as if on cue, a very bubbly Tamaki Suoh sat down in the seat next to him. "Good morning, Kyoya!" he chirped. "What's that faraway look I see in your eyes? You haven't fallen in love now, have you?" he waved a hand in front of his best friend's eyes to add to his sarcastic question.

Kyoya rolled his eyes at the blond boy, an enigma he'd figured out long ago. "As if. No, actually, I just met that new girl, the honors student from America, and she puzzled me a bit. When I asked her why her family moved here, she gave a sort of roundabout answer, and her mannerisms depicted slight nervousness. That makes me think she's hiding something, but what? And why?" his brow furrowed as he once again racked his brain for answers.

Tamaki just shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Her file didn't say anything about that. She's a commoner. An honors student. Like Haruhi!" at the thought of the girl who was the object of his affections Tamaki's face lit up, and Kyoya knew that Tamaki was a dead end, so he let him change the subject.

"You know, I gave up that dance at the fair for a reason. Have you made a move on her yet, "daddy dear"?" he sugarcoated his voice sarcastically as he said the nickname. Honestly, the tension between the two was beginning to frustrate even him.

Tamaki narrowed his eyes indignantly. "For your information, mommy dearest, I have a date with Haruhi tonight!" he realized his mistake a second later, and looked around anxiously. Thankfully, nobody had heard him. Although Haruhi had been wearing a dress at the dance that night, either nobody noticed, or they thought it was some kind of cross-dressing cosplay. Damage control hadn't even been necessary: Haruhi Fujioka was still known throughout the school as a boy, and her activities in the host club had been continuing. Tamaki lowered his voice as he continued. "I asked her during the fireworks, and she said yes!" Kyoya could practically see hearts materializing behind Tamaki's head. "It has to be a secret." He said in an exaggerated whisper. "I don't want those two shady twins to ruin anything…"

Before Kyoya could so much as roll his eyes at his friend's drama, or congratulate him on his uncharacteristic bravery in finally asking her out, the teacher began the class. Throughout, though he was mostly able to concentrate on the lesson, his thoughts kept drifting to Ella Flynn, and he had to refocus himself constantly. It was really quite annoying.

Finally, Ella thought to herself as the bell rang, letting her out of her conversation class. First day introductions had managed to be awkward. Confident as she was with herself, some of the students were not. She looked at her schedule, praying for an easier class. Her wish was granted with Advanced English. She chuckled to herself, realizing she could probably sleep through the class if she wanted to.

There was, she thought with an inward groan as she caught a glimpse at the design of the classroom, the issue of finding a seat. There were rows of two seats pushed together, a "partner" design. She, being new, of course, couldn't just sit next to a friend as the rest of the students seemed to be doing. Who did she know?

That question was answered as she walked completely into the room and saw the corner closest to the door, invisible until one was inside. There, regarding some notes on a clipboard and looking aloof as he had earlier, sat none other than Kyoya Ootori. Ella approached him with some fraction of her usual confidence. "Is this seat taken?"

Kyoya had been absentmindedly looking through the most recent income records for the Host Club when he heard her voice, high and sweet and a little unsure. He looked up and sure enough, there was little miss Ella Flynn, asking for permission to sit next to him. He smiled at her genuinely. "No, not at all. Would you like to sit with me?"

Ella's heart gave a little jump. Did he just ask her to sit with him?

Oh god. Did she have a crush on him? She appraised herself quickly. No, she decided, no, he was just cute. Really cute. Hot. And she was excited to have made a friend. She nodded, a little too excitedly perhaps, and sat down. "Thanks, Kyoya." Then she remembered something from her last class and covered her mouth. "I'm sorry," she began. "I'm supposed to call you Ootori, right? I mean…Kyoya is too informal after only knowing you for a few hours…"

Kyoya chuckled a bit to himelf. "Well," he said, as if joking with himelf. "This IS an English class, so I suppose you calling me Kyoya would be appropriate.

"Oh." She said uneasily.

He laughed at her seriousness. "For the record, you can call me Kyoya anytime you want…so long as I can call you Ella."

Her face lit up at that. "Oh, yeah sure, no problem!"

He chuckled yet again, realizing this was probably the most he'd laughed in a day since he first met Tamaki, and that was not nearly the same kind of laughter.

She caught a glimpse at his papers. "So, what are those, Kyoya?" she giggled a bit at saying his name.

He couldn't help but smile at her childish giddiness. She was almost like a female Tamaki. Just less annoying. "Just some finance records for a club I'm in. It's called the Host Club…" he was about to extend her an invitation, as a good financier should, but something stopped him. He wasn't exactly sure what. He was trying to find a good way to end that sentence when, thankfully, their teacher stepped in front of the class and started talking, saying something about how they could only speak in English in this class, so on and so forth…Kyoya had stopped listening as he began studying his new friend Ella more closely.

She was, truly, a very attractive young woman. A little on the small side: she was a little shorter than Haruhi, although definitely curvier. Still, she had a delicateness about her. Her hands and ears were small, and her cheekbones and jawline just prominent enough to make her look like a porcelain doll. Her skin fit that look as well: It was a near-white cream color, her cheeks constantly a slight shade of pink. Her full yet small lips matched that pink, pursed in light concentration as she listened to the teacher's speech. Her eyes were large and blue, framed by long eyelashes that fluttered when she blinked. Her blond hair cascaded down her back in waves, and as the sun shone on it through the window he noticed it had hints of red in it…

"Ootori Kyoya?"

He snapped out of his trance as the teacher called his name in attendance, and he raised his hand in acknowledgement as the teacher moved on.

His eyes widened in surprise at himself as he realized how deeply he'd been observing her. Why, it was a good thing she hadn't looked over, because he'd had no control over his facial expression and god knows what she would have seen. Why was he so deeply and shallowly—and unwillingy—focused on this girl's appearance?

"Kyoya?" he heard her say. He looked at her again, braced should he be knocked into a trance again.

"Yes?" he frowned inwardly at the sound of his own voice. Shaky.

"The teacher just said we should spend fifteen minutes conversing with our partner in English, getting to know them."

It hadn't even registered with him until that moment that she had been speaking English. Something had to be done about this. "Excuse me," he said, half apologetically, half dazedly as he got up from his desk and grabbed the lavatory pass, making his way out the door.

He walked briskly down the hall to the bathroom, needing desperately to regain his cool. In the bathroom, he looked at himself in the mirror, his hands bracing on either side of the sink. His eyes were a bit widened, his brow a bit sweaty. He took off his glasses and splashed cold water on his face. He put them back on. Better. His heartbeat was slowing down, he was beginning to feel normal again. Looking at himself in the mirror, he laughed freely. He didn't know what that just was, but he brushed it off as the extra cup of coffee he'd drank this morning. He fixed his hair, which had gotten a little askew at some point, and fixed his tie for good measure, and proceeded back to the classroom.

Ella sat there with her chin on her hand. "He's a little odd, isn't he?" she thought to herself. What was making him act so…mysteriously? He was a puzzle, alright…

"Please excuse me, that was awfully rude." She heard his buttery, cool voice sound as he sat down next to her.

"Are you alright?" she regarded him. He looked as cool and collected as he had earlier, when she first met him. A puzzle.

"Just fine, thank you. What were we doing?"

She looked at the paper in front of her. "We're supposed to ask each other these questions, except in English…"

"Well, then let's get started."

"Okay." She replied with an earnest smile. "What's your favorite color?"

For what was definitely the millionth time that day, he chuckled.

This was an awkward place to stop...but I have school tomorrow:( I didn't even get to the good part...I'll update soon. I hope. I dunno. Junior year of high school is awful. And I'm convinced my precalc teacher wants to kill me with the weight of my homework. Til next time!

~FeatherSong